Growth vow amid global woe

Economic expansion to be stable despite 'grim' world outlook

BEIJING / HONG KONG - A pledge to maintain stable growth next year against the backdrop of a "grim" global economy while transforming the country's economic model was delivered at a key conference on Wednesday.

The annual three-day Central Economic Work Conference, which concluded in Beijing, laid out an economic blueprint for 2012 and agreed to "make progress while maintaining stability".